NRL 2 years ago

Rabbitoh's life threatened

In one of the biggest shocks of recent times, Dylan Walker and Aaron Gray found themselves in hospital in some very unfortunate circumstances. It’s without a doubt a very big talking point around the game of Rugby League, but not only that, it’s also a talking point on professional athletes.

Despite the situation or however it may unfold, it’s a very sad scenario. I do hope that whatever comes out of this that the boys will learn their lesson. It’s super easy for everyone to judge them on the events that have been uncovered, but there’s always more to the story than meets the eye. These boys are 20 and 21 respectively. I’m 21 and it’s fair to say I’ve seen people do some pretty crazy things in my time. When you’re young and have finished the season you will get up to some mischief. That’s just the way it is. Putting your body on the line for 26- 30 weeks, plus training and media commitments it’s not easy to deal with. If you slip out of line then all the Journos will be on your back. These days when you have an injury, you would tell the club Dr, who will then prescribe you with pain killers. The issue is that with the amount of pain killers you get, you may not finish all of them and when you don’t finish them you want to get rid of them. When young people come in to contact with pain killers you need to be careful because of the high it gives you. Both Dylan and Aaron have made a terrible mistake that put their lives at risk and I’m sure would like to have their time over.

This all stems from what I believe is the freedom to do what you want after the season is finished. This may be true but there should be awareness programs set up for the players throughout the season. We have a lot of players in our competition that come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who get all the money in the world and after they are finished the season they want to splurge. It comes from all areas in different sports, including the NBA. When these guys get the big bucks playing basketball they lose their minds with their wealth. After the season is done they go on a bit of a spending spree. There has been numerous stories of players losing their money.

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I truly believe in players letting their hair down after the season, having some beers with your team to celebrate a good season and having weekends away. Being smart about it all is what separates boys from the men.

It’s not only Rugby League players I’m pointing at, it’s all athletes in general.